250 Lbs. of Plastique

The sounds of oncoming day filled Saigon's Nguyen Cu Trinh Street. Across from the eight-story Metropole Hotel, the third largest American en listed men's billet in the city, buses be gan lining up for the day's run to the beaches of Vung Tau. The sputter of three-wheeled cyclo-pousse taxis occasionally disturbed the gloomy quiet. An American MP, automatic shotgun cradled in the crook of his arm, and a white-uniformed Vietnamese national policeman neared the end of their guard duty outside the Metropole. Inside, 160 American servicemen lay sleeping.

A grey-painted panel truck braked to a stop. Three Viet Cong leaped out and opened fire on the two guards with sub machine guns. The MP was hit in the shoulder but still managed to get off four shotgun blasts and empty his .45.

Then, as he and his Vietnamese partner crawled inside to get help, the truck, packed with what must have been 250 lbs. of plastique (a putty-like, easily shaped explosive), blew up. The fire ball knocked out nearly every window within a radius of 100 yds., demolished five of the buses, blew several stories of the facade off the Metropole, dug a 12-by 13-ft. crater in the pavement.

Fire trucks, police and medics raced to the scene to begin the bloody job of evacuating the wounded and digging through the debris for the dead. In the process they discovered a Claymore mine, which sprays steel balls in a deadly triangle when,it goes off. It is a favorite Viet Cong trick to set off Claymores minutes after an initial act of terrorism, with the idea of wiping out the rescuers as well. Miraculously this Claymore fizzled, or the toll would have been far worse. It was bad enough: eight dead, including one American, one New Zealander, and six Vietnamese; 137 injured--72 Americans, '62 Vietnamese (including twelve children) and three New Zealanders.

Although pitched battles between major forces have lately seized the headlines, last week's bombing of the Metropole was a cruel reminder that the Viet Cong's campaign of sabotage and terrorism continues. For the last tabulated one-week period, in fact, Viet Cong incidents have soared to a new high of 1,038. They range from propaganda marches in provincial capitals, protesting U.S. air strikes, to last week's mining of the Danish freighter S.S. Kina, en route via canal from the sea to Saigon. The submerged mine blew a gaping hole in the Kina, but failed to sink her; if it had, much of the heavy cargo coming into Saigon would have been held up until the canal was cleared.

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